Confusion in the Scriptures
Confusion is something everyone goes through at some point in their lives. Whether young or old, we have moments when we just don’t understand what we are seeing or are hearing. I remember as a boy, I was walking at night toward my house. There, 60 feet from the house, was a lightning ball. A lightning ball is exactly what it sounds like. It is a ball of lightning hovering off the ground, in this case, about three feet above the ground. My curiosity was electric. I crept closer and closer to this rare occurrence. Then, I realized what I had seen as a lightning ball was just light brightly shining off of a large shiny tin container. My confusion was based on a lack of knowledge about what I was seeing and a predisposition to wanting to see a lightning ball which I had previously read about. In addition to our lifetime moments, there are a number of occasions within scripture where confusion occurred.
The book of John in chapter 6 retells the history of Jesus to a crowd and his disciples near the sea of Galilee. Picking up in verse 31 the crowd mentions the Israelites in the wilderness and how they were given bread from heaven to eat. Jesus declares He is the true bread from heaven. He is the bread of life. The people grumbled about his statement. They certainly understood His claim of Deity. Jesus declared that “the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world… I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, he have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life.” By verse 66 it is read, “From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.” It appears as if there was confusion in regard to what Jesus wanted from those who would follow Him. Can you imagine hearing these words firsthand? Not only is this Jesus claiming Deity but is Jesus talking about cannibalism? Well, no he wasn’t. He was speaking of the Lord’s Supper by which Christians would partake of the fruit of the vine and unleavened bread to remember Jesus (I Corinthians 11:23-27).
After his death and resurrection, Jesus instructed the disciples remain in Jerusalem waiting for the promise of the Father which was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. “When the day of Pentecost arrived… they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” These disciples, the twelve apostles, were telling people from different countries and different languages (tongues) “the mighty works of God”. What was the response to this? “And all were amazed and perplexed [confused], saying to one another, ‘what does this mean?’ But others mocking said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’” This interaction recorded in Acts 2 demonstrates how confusion can occur. These “Galileans”, men who were not educated in the speaking of different languages, were doing so! The foolish explanation of drunkenness certainly would not apply. One does not get drunk and develop an ability to speak coherently in language. What sounded like gibberish to the Hebrew speaking Jew could very likely have been Greek or Aramaic or any other language. Of course, the apostle Peter lends his voice to these assertions and declares that they were definitely not drunk, but that this was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel.
The apostle Paul visited the Thessalonians in after passing through the area of Amphipolis and Apollonia. He shared the scriptures with the people there but met quite a bit of persecution and moved on quickly. However, the Church would grow from his visit and it would flourish. Paul would later write to the Thessalonians to encourage, strengthen, and instruct them. Part of his discussion would cover the final judgment of mankind with the return of Jesus in the clouds. The faithful alive and dead would meet Jesus in the sky and be with him forever. What great news and blossom of Hope! Yet, there was confusion. People were under the impression that Jesus would be returning very soon. So, people stopped working. They just waited for the return of the Christ and the blessing of their eternal home. However, Paul did not mean that the return was imminent. He wrote another letter a few months later discouraging idleness. Additionally, he spoke of other things which must come before the return of the Christ. Simple confusion had created a problem that needed to be taken care of quickly.
Confusion is nothing new. It has happened in the past. It is happening today. It will happen in the future. When possible, take time to consider how your words or actions might be interpreted. Also if something seems odd or confusing, seek for clarification. Communication and inspection is a quick remedy to faulty conclusions.